This website is
devoted to an innovative method for teaching foreign languages
(including English as a second language). The method is called
"Sheltered Initiation Language Learning."

"Sheltered
Initiation Language Learning is the creation of
Zev
bar-Lev
of San Diego State University. In its startling
methodological assumptions, instructional procedures, and
degree of success, Sheltered Initiation Language Learning
presents a bold challenge to prevalent theory Future
theories of formal language learning will have to account
for the manifest success of SILL."

from Robert Blairs
section on "Innovative Methods" in teaching foreign
languages, in Marianne Celce-Murcias Teaching
English as a Second or Foreign Language

SILL mini-courses have been developed for some thirty
languages. These are available to participants
in "Learn a New Language" workshops given through the Learning Annex in
San Diego, Los Angeles, and, occasionally, San Francisco. Longer courses are available
at San Diego State University and SDSU Extension. Teachers interested in using
SILL courses for their own language are invited to inquire. Please e-mail
Dr. Zev bar-Lev for more information.

What a
SILLy idea!

For students to
speak and read on their own in
class!

The goal in
SILL is authenticity of skill:
There is no point for students to read "authentic" newspapers if
they can only read with a dictionary, just as there is no point
for them to have "natural" conversations if they have to memorize
them.

The strongest argument
for using SILL first is that it makes all student confident, creative
speakers from the beginning.
After ordinary study, even in modern courses, it will be too late for
many students ever to become confident speakers. (SILL is also
notable for the degree of command and accuracy it imparts in
spontaneous speaking.)

You can "cut off as much as you want"and use it alone or before regular courses.
Use just a few hours of this method ("unit A") and follow up with your own textbook
if you wish. (See the "intermediate
exercises" page on this website.) Or
use a greater length: "units A-C" comprise about 40 hours for high-school students
(20 hours for college students); "units A-G" (the equivalent of a year of high-school
study) and beyond are available for an increasing number of languages.

At first sight, it may seem that
"associations" are the most characteristic feature of SILL; in fact,
they are completely optional in the method. The most distinctive feature of
SILL is the curricular sequencing. In SILL, all vocabulary
and structures are presented in a an acquisition order
than guarantees maximum success, especially long-term. A main principle is asymmetric
sequencing, in which grammatical categories are presented one at
a time, rather than in pairs or tables. Examples: personal endings on verbs
are presented one at a time, starting with a "basic form" (chosen
independently for each specific language); gender and number endings are also
presented one at a time. Even vocabulary is presented in a carefully designed
sequence, avoiding lists covering whole semantic fields, which (like grammar
tables) look pleasant but are difficult to acquire.

Main Menu

This website
includes:

1. three sample speaking lessons
in Hebrew, Italian,
and Japanese, including comprehension exercises
for each;